Along The Line

Introduction

The 15 mile route through Walkden runs on a west-north-westerly alignment from Salford Crescent to Hindley (near Wigan)
passing through the towns of Swinton, Walkden and Atherton.

This page gives an illustrated commentary on the notable sights along the
line, starting from Salford Crescent and running west to Hindley.

Salford Crescent to Swinton

Salford Crescent is a modern interchange station built in 1987 and already said to lack sufficient capacity to handle the
number of passengers changing there. At the south end of the station lines diverge at Windsor Bridge South Junction
to Manchester Victoria and Manchester Oxford Road/Piccadilly. At the north end of the station the routes to Bolton and
Wigan split at Windsor Bridge North Junction. GMPTE have aspirations to enlarge the station, possibly involving
relocation a few hundred yards north or south, but the failure of Manchester's TIF bid and the Office of Rail
Regulation's 2008 decision to cut Network Rail's budget for 2009-14 have thrown doubt over funding
for the project.

Windsor Bridge Junction

Windsor Bridge North Junction marks the start of the Walkden line proper, with its twin tracks veering off west while the
route to Bolton via Farnworth continues north.

The cutting that the line runs through from Windsor Bridge Junction will be of particular interest to students
of modern urban life as its grass banks and disused trackbeds host one of the country's richest collections
of discarded household items. Keen-eyed observers should normally be able to spot bicycles, kitchen appliances
and shopping trolleys among other colourful curios.

The once-grand Pendleton Broad Street station is a sorry sight today, with litter strewn
across the remains of the two island platforms.
This view was taken in March 2009.

Pendleton Station (formerly Pendleton Broad Street, closed 1998)

Almost immediately after Windsor Bridge Junction the train passes the site of
the disused Pendleton station.

The station, originally known as Pendleton Broad Street, was one of the largest on the
line with two island platforms and many services starting or ending there.

Pendleton was the last station on the line to
close in 1998, having been disused for four years after an arson attack in 1994. The platforms can still be seen
but are regularly strewn with litter tossed from the roads aligning the brick embankment.

From Pendleton the line heads west across a brick viaduct through Brindle Heath. The trackbed of
the former fast lines is clearly visible to the right of the surviving tracks.

Through Brindle Heath

Heading west from Pendleton the line crosses a long viaduct of brick arches and iron
spans that carry the former four-track railway at rooftop-height through the distressed
post-industrial landscape of Brindle Heath.

At the end of the vaduct the train passes the site of Brindle Heath Junction where the
so called "Agecroft connecting line" split off to join the Salford to Bolton line at Agecroft.
The line of the route, which allowed trains to run directly from Pendleton
Broad Street to Bolton,
can still be made out amongst the birch trees which have encroached along the trackside.

Climbing from the Irwell Valley

After the site of the junction the industrial scenery gives way to thick beech woods as the line
begins the steep climb towards Irlams O' Th' Height and Swinton.

As the train rises above the roof line and tree tops the view northwards
opens out over the wide Irwell valley.
Until 1994 this scene was dominated by the cooling towers and buildings of Agecroft
Colliery and Power Station, but since their closure and demolition nature has reclaimed patches of the valley amongst
the new business park, homes and Forest Bank prison.

Along this stretch evidence of Salford's sometimes surprising claim
to be one of England's greenest cities becomes clear, with large areas of trees filling the valley and lining its opposite bank.

The climb from Pendleton up to Pendlebury is the steepest section of the line with a gradient of 1 in 84,
steep enough to cause any Wigan-bound trains with a failed carriage really struggle.

The site of Irlams O' Th' Height station (beyond the bridge) in March 2009.

Irlams O' Th' Height Station (opened 1902, closed 1956)

About halfway up the climb to Swinton a parting of the twin tracks indicates the site of the former Irlam O' Th' Heights
station.

The station was added to the route in 1902 and featured platforms built by E. Taylor & Co. on wooden struts,
quite different to the brick built platforms of the existing stations on the line. Although it was apparently situated
in the middle of nowhere, the station was accessed from Bank Lane, served a number of nearby factories, and was handy for
railwaymen travelling to or from the nearby shed at Agecroft.

Old photographs show the station was a
picturesque building
with its elevated position presumably offering expansive views over the Irwell valley.

Too far from the town to compete
with the buses and tramways, the station closed in 1956 and no trace of its wooden structure remains.

A Pacer nearing the top of the climb to Pendlebury on 9 Feb 2009 with the buildings of central Salford, including Strangeways
Prison Tower, behind.

Pendlebury Station (closed 1960)

After a couple of miles the climb levels out at Pendlebury where the line enters a cutting and another gap opening up
between the tracks indicates the site of Pendlebury station. Hardly any trace remains of the station buildings today, with
just a small length of the wall on Bolton Road, noticable for its sand-coloured brick, showing where they once
stood.

Across Bolton Road from the former station is
St. Augustine's church. Bodley's
magnificent Victoria red-brick creation is a Grade 1 listed building that was lavishly praised by Pevsner and is
known as the Miners' Cathedral. A memorial stone commemorates the 178 victims of the 1885
Clifton Hall Colliery explosion, 64 of whom are buried in the church's graveyard.

This small stretch of wall is all that can be seen of former Pendlebury Station on Bolton Road.

Pendlebury Tunnel (201 yards)

A Pacer passes the site of Pendlebury Station on the approach to Pendlebury Tunnel in Feb. 2009. Peeking out from
the trees, above the train's leading carriage, a brick buttress is all that remains of the station buildings.

Immediately after the site of Pendlebury station the tracks reconverge and the line enters the northern bore of Pendlebury
Tunnel. Although only shallow and just 201 yards in length, is the still the longest tunnel on the Walkden line.

The tunnel was built using the "cut and cover" technique whereby the tunnel is originally dug out as an open-air
cutting and the roof covered over afterwards.
Its southern bore has been disused since the fast tracks were lifted in 1959.

Emerging from the tunnel trains run through a 1/2 mile cutting alongside the site of Swinton Rugby League's former home
Station Road
on the north (right) side of the track. With a maximum capacity of 60,000 fans the ground was an impressive sight until
it was sold in 1992 to make way for the housing estate which occupies the site today.

Swinton to Walkden

Swinton station looking west toward Moorside, Feb 2009.

Swinton Station

For about a year until the L&Y extended the line out to Atherton in 1888, trains from Victoria terminated at
Swinton station.

The station's original awning and cast iron pillars remain in-situ today, although the station has very basic
facilities. It is located a few minutes walk north of the town centre, and access to the street is via two flights of steps.

The short distance from Swinton to Moorside is entirely below street level and accomplished within a couple of minutes.

Moorside Station

Moorside station was originally called Wardley and Moorside, reflecting more accurately the neighbourhoods served.
Like Swinton the station is below street level and only accessible by two flights of steps, but unlike Swinton there
is no elaborate canopy on the platform with just bus-stop style shelter available to passengers. The remarkable
length of this quiet station's island platform is witness to the size of trains that used to call here in its
heyday.

West of Moorside the line strikes out into the countryside, covering the mile and half to
Walkden in just a few minutes. The line runs west from Moorside through a birch-lined cutting until passing under
no less than four concrete bridges which carry the M60 Manchester Orbital motorway overhead.

After the motorway bridges the line begins to rise slowly above the surrounding landscape. In fact it is the surrounding
landscape that falls away as the line is dead level along this stretch - part of the reason that the famous
"Walkden Troughs" were located here in the days of steam. The troughs ran in the centre of the tracks allowing steam trains
equipped with water "scoops" to replenish their tanks whilst running along the line - and what a spectacular sight
it must have been as steam engines sent great clouds of water flying as they passed !

Approaching the town of Walkden it is possible to make out the remains of loading platforms
and sidings amongst the trees along the north (right) side of the tracks. These are the remains of Walkden's Goods Yard,
opened a year after the station on the land now occupied by houses on Holyoake Road and a small industrial yard on
Mullineux Road.

Walkden to Hindley

Walkden Station

The railway crosses the former L&NWR line, now a cyclepath, on a high bridge at Walkden.

When
Walkden station
is reached the tracks lie well above the level of the surrounding land and views start to open out to the
south and north.

The line's designers presumably felt that the line needed to be carried on a high embankment through the
town to avoid the existing tracks belonging to the London And North Western Railway's Eccles-Bolton line and the numerous
colliery railways in the area. Although only the high-flying L&Y line remains today, the scale of the engineering can be
grasped from the fact 11 bridges are crossed in the first mile west from Walkden station.

The bridges at Walkden, as elsewhere along the line, are all built of wrought iron rather than brick in order to
withstand any subsidence caused by the mines which honeycomb the area.

An unusual view of Walkden station in 1992, taken from the top of the signal frame
east of the station. It is hard to believe that two more railway tracks (the fast lines) used to
lie to the left of the remaining pair of tracks. Photo courtesy of Harry Gardner.

The history of Walkden station, and the original L&Y signal box passed on the approach to the station, are the subject of
separate pages here on the the FOWS website.

After crossing Hilton Lane the line heads west and gently downhill across a landscape of open farmland and
man-made mountains of spoil from
the area's former coal mines.

Due to recent rises in the cost of coal, UK Fuels have recommenced open-cast mining at Cutacre
and their large, rapidly growing excavations can clearly been seen on the north side of the tracks. In addition to this
highly visible modern industry, the number of buttresses from vanished bridges that crossed under and over the railway
give a good idea of the number of colliery roads and railway tracks there used to be in this area.

Atherton Station

Atherton station on 14 Feb 2009, with a diverted Trans-Pennine Express creeping west toward Wigan.

Atherton, a former coal and cotton town whose skyline is still dominated by churches and massive brick mills is
reached 3.5 miles after Walkden.

For more pictures and information about the industrial and folk history of Atherton - and many more interesting
aspects of the town's culture besides - visit Dave Dutton's excellent
Atherton Online website.

Atherton station
- like Swinton and Walkden - still offers passengers
the shelter of its original L&Y platform canopy. Atherton station is manned all day and is the nearest station
to Walkden that provides disabled access (a lift from street level to the platform). Electronic train
information displays were installed here in January 2009.

On departure from Atherton the line passes a modern signal box built to control the demolished Atherton Goods Yard, and
runs on an embankment past Crilly Park, the home of
Atherton Laburnum Rovers
football club - one of the town's two representatives in the North West Counties
league (Atherton Collieries are the other).

Pacer at Hag Fold station with a westbound service toward Wigan on 14 Feb 2009.

Hag Fold Station

Hag Fold station
is less than 1 mile from Atherton and is the most recently built station on the line, opening in May 1987. Its
platforms are built on wooden stilts and, in contrast to the original stations along the line, are on opposite
sides of the tracks. The station is on a high embankment with views over the large Hag Fold housing estate it was
built to serve.

A Trans-Pennine Express running west from Hag Fold station toward Daisy Hill on 14 Feb 2009.

After clearing the Hag Fold estate the line runs through a shallow cutting for half a mile over gently undulating
farmland to Daisy Hill station.

Daisy Hill station looking east on 14 Feb 2009.

Daisy Hill Station

Daisy Hill station
is reached a mile after Hag Fold. The station is on the south-west edge of Westhoughton and sits in a shallow
wooded valley with a small brook running through.

A large, purpose-built car park was added in 2008 making the station an attractive starting point for
commuting into Manchester from Westhoughton and areas down towards Leigh (3 miles south). After Atherton,
Daisy Hill enjoys the longest staffing hours of any station along the Walkden line with the Booking
Office open from the first train until early evening.

Pacer running west across Hart Common on 14 Feb 2009.

West of Daisy Hill the line runs through a shallow cutting taking it past Daisy Hill village. A mile after
Daisy Hill station the site of Dobbs Brow Junction can still be made out, the starting point of a
1.25 mile long cutting that ran north to meet the Bolton to Chorley line north of today's Horwich Parkway
station. This line gave the L&Y - and later British Railways - the option to run trains from Manchester
to Preston, Blackpool and the north that by-passed Bolton completely. The route of this line can still
be clearly seen on
Google Map's aerial photographs of the area.

After another mile Crow Nest Junction - the end of the Atherton line - is reached. During this final section
of the journey the train emerges from the Daisy Hill cuttings and crosses the more rural landscape of Hart Common.

Crow Nest Junction

The Walkden line ends at the curiously-named Crow Nest Junction, half a mile east of Hindley station.
The junction is named for a nearby farm and is the point where the Walkden line peels away from the L&Y's
original line to Bolton.

In its original form Crow Nest Junction was far more impressive than what we
see today, with 4 lines diverging in each direction and a large signal box controlling the
junction located right in its vertex. A signal box still guards the junction, but it is a more modern (1972)
and modest building, situated where the long-gone fast lines used to run.

For an amazing picture showing the scale (and geometric beauty !) of Crow Nest Junction when all the
tracks were still in situ, see
Dr. J W F Scrimgeour's picture
of the junction in 1956.